An entrepreneur is not always guaranteed success but it is all about finding the right opportunity.
Randburg’s businessman, Adam Dembovsky has such a mindset, looking for what is wrong, fixing it and then making money. If this does not work, he believes that you do it better than the rest.
“The best advice I can give is that starting a business is not about doing something you love, but finding something that you hate and then fixing it!” said Dembovsky. “Find where the problem is because that will be where the business is. Once you fix that problem, you move on and go forward.”
His first step into business began after travelling through Africa. While in northern Malawi and marvelling at the beautiful scenery, he wanted to enjoy it with a brandy and Coke. However, with no ice, his drink was not satisfactory and he spent four hours looking for ice.
He eventually found some ice for about R150. When he returned to South Africa, he started a business called Ice Cubed Manufacturing and it launched with a single ice machine and operated out of a friend’s garage in Cape Town.
The business came with a handful of customers who would collectively turn over about R5 000 monthly. Within five months, Dembovsky moved the business to an industrial warehouse and the client base had grown by over 15 000 per cent.
“We did things better, we worked harder and planned well. The business started from a bad experience and hating a warm drink, not from a love of ice,” said Dembovsky.
The business grew rapidly and was unable to manufacture enough ice to keep up with the swelling demand. The business was then sold.
“I have always been inclined to fold capital onto itself to try and generate more capital. A lot of guys want to buy and hold onto what they have. I wanted capital to do something more exclusive with higher barriers. Basically, anyone with an ice machine and cooler box in their boot was my competitor.”
His next ventures, however, were not successes and he went back to the drawing board. He then went into a mobile vending business that had been dormant for almost 10 years. Named Major Tom, the crux of this business was distributing beverages –primarily beer and coffee out of backpacks at events and activations.
“The business was born from hate. Once I was at a Metallica concert and I wanted some beers to drink while watching the concert. I found there was a monster queue and I was angry that I paid all that money for a ticket and I have to stand in a queue.
You’ve never met anyone in a queue going, ‘Jeez I’m having a great time here, I’d much rather be here than outside and enjoying the show’,” he said.
Since buying the business in 2013, with no existing customers base to speak of, Dembovsky and his partners went to work and were able to close major deals with SA Breweries, Ellis Park, The Dome, Jacaranda FM and Loftus Versfeld.
The business was sold four years later on a multiple of almost 35 times the original purchase price.
Dembrovsky is currently the owner and managing director of the award-winning brand retail and experiential space construction company, The Innovation Factory. After starting the business five years ago, with a staff contingent of 11 people and running at a substantial loss in their first year,
Innovation Factory is now an established business and an all-around construction house who pride themselves on their innovative approach and fastidious production team.
“I have always been drawn to manufacturing and thought the industry was really cool. I was walking through a mall and I saw a lot of things that are built, such as shelves and counters. I thought, if I could make a portion of that, I will succeed. Walking in shops, for example, the furniture and structures can dictate a person’s consumer habits based on colours and such.”
The business now employs almost 70 staff who are experienced in the exhibition and shopfitting industry.
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